


Glee Puckurt Orphaned Stories

by Julesmonster



Series: Orphaned Stories [3]
Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-23
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-07-26 07:09:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7564888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Julesmonster/pseuds/Julesmonster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>More orphaned stories that are available for adoption. See series notes for more details.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dragons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a modern world where Dragons are hiding, Kurt meets Noah and discovers a whole community he never knew existed.
> 
> Mpreg.

Inspiration Piece:  
Title: Claim Author: Ptera Waters Rating: NC-17 Character(s)/Pairing(s): Kurt/Blaine (Can you believe it? Me?) Genre: AU fantasy, romance, smut Warning: dragon!Blaine, slash Summary: As Blaine's rider, Kurt has always felt secure in their relationship – until someone else challenges that claim.

 

Name: PteraWaters Profile: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2110848/ --------------------  Subject: Dragons!  A response to your review at http://www.fanfiction.net/r/7035267/  Wow. I'm glad you liked it so much!  Well, I got the original idea here:  
glee-kink-meme.livejournal.com/3381.html?thread=10446645#t10446645  I am also working on a longer Puckurt version (ie Blaine dies) but feel free to take a crack at it. In my version being a dragon is a recessive genetic trait, which means they're human-plus. I also added that dragons try not to get involved with other dragons because the offspring end up deformed, so they have human riders that they "claim" (get married to). There's a chapter in my 30 Puckurt drabbles entry that shows Puck admiring Kurt from afar and a little more of the universe.  In my version Kurt becomes a rider because Burt is a dragon and always takes Kurt flying and Kurt can't give that up once he gets too old to fly with his father anymore.  Anyway, feel free to change the verse as suits you and I'll be eager to see what you come up with!

 

 

Kurt Hummel looked around his new house with a critical eye, hardly able to believe how much his life had changed in such a short time. Only four months ago, he had graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Carson School of Design in Chicago—one of the best design schools in the country—with the highest GPA in his class. For the next two months Kurt had toured Europe, a gift from his Grandmother Dougherty. 

Eliza Dougherty was a very rich and very mean old woman who hated Kurt’s father but, since his mother died and there were no other children or grandchildren, Kurt was lavished with gifts and money. Kurt had received two platinum credit cards from her a week after his mom had died. She set a $5,000 credit limit on each and stipulated that Kurt could spend as much as he needed, but he could only use the money for himself and not his father. Kurt hated the woman for that reason, but his father insisted that he accept the money, so Kurt did. And when he graduated from college, she gifted him with the trip to Europe and a huge trust fund to get started in life. 

Once he returned from Europe, Kurt was quick to start sending out résumés to all the top design firms in the country. He wanted to get into the jewelry business, but knew that it could be hard to do without connections. Unsurprisingly, he was offered jobs from a number of fashion houses out of New York and Chicago, and even a few of the smaller jewelry companies. But the one offer that had appealed to him the most was from a mining company out of Montana. They currently had a small jewelry department but were looking to expand and grow that branch of their business. He would head up this new venture as the lead designer, working closely with the other departments to gather the resources he needed. 

The Yellow Springs Mining Company was the largest mining business in the western US, with mines in Colorado, Idaho, Washington, and a few other states. They mined silver, gold, sapphires, rubies, amethyst, topaz, pyrite, aquamarine, opals, tourmaline, cinnabar, diamonds, garnet, jade, as well as a wide variety of quartzes and agates. That was on top of the less valuable and more readily available minerals that they mined for industrial purposes. Kurt would have his pick of materials to use in his designs and he was excited by the prospect of building this aspect of the business from the ground up. 

What Kurt had not been excited about was the prospect of moving to Montana. He’d lived in a small town in Ohio growing up and he’d wanted to get away from that life. That was a big reason he had gone to school in Chicago. Even though he would be living in the largest city in Montana, Kurt knew that it would be tiny in comparison to even Columbus. Billings Montana, only had about 160,000 people in the metro area. In fact, metropolitan Columbus had more people living in it than the entire state of Montana.

The good news was that the cost of living was relatively low, and he could afford a much nicer place here than he ever could have in New York or Chicago. There hadn’t been much time between getting hired and making the move, so Kurt had been forced to rely on a real estate agent to find him a house. They had emailed back and forth with photos, videos and floor plans. They had debated neighborhoods and finally come to the conclusion that Kurt would have to give up his dream of city living (not that there was much of a city to begin with) in order to get the quality of home he demanded. 

That was how Kurt ended up with a house surrounded by one hundred twenty acres of forest and a quarter mile from his nearest neighbor. The house itself was fairly modern, in a rustic chic sort of way. It had exposed rough cut timber beams through the huge great room, but the clean lines and simple details fit with the contemporary interior design Kurt preferred. He had hired an interior designer to begin furnishing the place for him, so when he finally arrived his house was set up and ready for him. Kurt was not one to mess about, and since he had his grandmother’s money to back him up, he didn’t need to fuss with the unimportant details.

It was Sunday, the day that everything finally came together—the house was completely furnished and all of the linens, kitchen ware and other household items were bought and in place and his clothing and other personal effects had been delivered by the moving company—and Kurt was happy to finally be able to move in. He didn’t like things being unsettled. But now that things were calming down and he could sit out on his back deck with a glass of wine and watch the sunset, he felt so much better. In the end, Kurt was rather pleased with both the property and the interior design. He would have to send each of those ladies a gift basket. Or if he found a decent spa, he could gift them with a spa day as thanks instead. He made a mental note to ask about local spas.

Despite the bucolic setting, Kurt’s house was only about a fifteen minute drive away from his new place of business. He had been in town for almost two weeks, staying at a hotel while the work on the house was being completed, and he had made a good start on putting together a team. He had two Native American women who were experienced jewelry makers. They made pieces to sell to tourists and also taught classes at the adult school. Kurt thought that they could lend a local flair to the designs that would appeal to people back east.

Kurt also hired a metalsmith to help put together the prototypes. Kurt could do some of that work himself, but he felt like his time could be better spent working on the designs and dealing with the production and marketing departments. The only position left to fill was that of his executive assistant. 

The head of HR had sent three candidates to him since his arrival and not one of them could keep up with him. It wasn’t that Kurt was a bad boss, it was just that he demanded the best from his people and little blond floozies who spent more time texting their boyfriends than doing their jobs weren’t going to work for him. A new assistant was supposed to start the next morning, and Kurt prayed to a god he didn’t believe in that she would be better than the last three.

Kurt set aside thoughts of work to enjoy the crisp September air and the peaceful view. He may not have been looking forward to living in Billings Montana, but so far it hadn’t been as bad as he expected. Maybe he could get used to this quiet way of life.

Kurt finished his wine and headed to the French doors that led to his bedroom. He never saw the large shadow that flew across the sky and blocked the view of the moon for just a brief moment.

PKPKPKPKKP

Kurt was not having the best morning. In fact, it was the worst morning in the history of mornings. He really hated Mondays. Kurt’s alarm clock hadn’t gone off so he had overslept by almost an hour, and then the coffee pot that he had just bought and set up yesterday had refused to work. He didn’t have time to go through his normal moisturizing routine and he’d had to just throw an outfit together (not something Kurt ever did) before rushing out the door. There was no time to stop and pick up coffee, so Kurt had to hope that someone thought to make a pot when he got to work.

Of course, as soon as he approached his office, Kurt knew that things couldn’t get any worse. The assistant that HR was supposed to send over was sitting at the desk just outside his office, looking like he owned the place. Well, at least it wasn’t a blond bimbo this time. In fact, his new assistant wasn’t a woman at all, he was a very handsome man that was built like either a model or an athlete. His eyes were a light hazel color that contrasted with the long dark lashes that accentuated his eyes. His dark hair was… the only real drawback on an otherwise captivating specimen of humanity. 

“Lose the Mohawk,” Kurt said as he passed the man on his way to his office. “And find me some coffee! I drink it black!”

Kurt put his attaché case on his desk and began unpacking his laptop and the files he had brought home with him over the weekend. Before he could even set the computer onto its docking station, the assistant was back with a cup of steaming hot coffee. Kurt accepted the mug with murmured gratitude before sitting back in his seat and looking over his assistant again.

“On second thought, the hair can stay,” Kurt said. “It suits you in a weird way.”

The man smirked and Kurt could feel his stomach flip. Wow. He was a sexy beast. “I’m Noah Puckerman, your new executive assistant. Most people call me Puck.”

“Well, Noah,” Kurt said, emphasizing the man’s given name—there was no way he was calling him by that atrocious appellation—“have a seat and let’s discuss your duties and my expectations. I will warn you that there have been three assistants before you and I have only been here for two weeks.”

“HR said you were a bitc– a difficult employer,” Puck corrected himself and Kurt actually smiled.

“I can be a bitch,” Kurt admitted with a smirk. “And I will probably deserve every awful name you will call me in the future. I’m a perfectionist and expect that other people live up to my high standards. But… if you do your job, are prompt and reliable, and show any sort of initiative at all, I think we’ll get along well.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, sir, you’re pretty young to be heading up a major department in a company this size,” Puck said.

“I’m not as young as I look,” Kurt said. “I am just out of school, but I was the top of my class and I have interned with some of the best designers in the jewelry business every summer since I started college. I have won several awards for my designs and had a dual degree in design and business administration. I’m qualified for my job.”

“Right,” Puck said with a cheeky grin. “Well, I went to community college and barely graduated with an associate’s degree in business administration with a concentration in office management and computer technology. What that basically means is that I can file, type, run errands and know how to use a PC. But I’m qualified for my job, too.”

“Good to know,” Kurt said. He liked this guy’s sense of humor. “Do you know anything about jewelry? It’s not necessary, since you can learn what you need to know as we go, but I am curious.”

“Don’t even wear jewelry,” Puck said with a smirk. “The guy in HR said they were sending me to you because I was the only male they had. Something about you making the last three girls cry.”

“Just promise you won’t spend all day texting your girlfriend and we’ll be fine,” Kurt said. “Okay, so responsibilities…”

For the next half hour, Kurt went through the duties he expected Puck to fulfill. Then they went over the specific goals of the department and how Puck could contribute to those goals. Kurt was impressed by both the questions Puck asked and by the little humorous and flirty comments he threw in. Suddenly, Kurt’s day was looking a whole lot brighter.

PKPKPKPKPK

Noah Puckerman was an idiot savant, Kurt decided. The man couldn’t discuss anything more intellectually challenging or complicated than the Bronco’s chances at the playoffs, but he could manage Kurt’s calendar, keep his filing in order, finish Kurt’s correspondence almost before he finished dictating, and make the best fucking coffee that Kurt had ever tasted. In short, Puck was a superb assistant. He kept Kurt on an even keel when the corporate execs started breathing down his neck for faster results. He kept Kurt from alienating his staff when they were faced with glitches and setbacks. He even managed to buy and ship a Christmas gift for Kurt’s dad when Kurt was too wrapped up in getting their premier line ready for production before the deadline to do anything besides eat and sleep. 

So when things finally slowed down after the New Year, almost six months after Kurt had arrived, he decided that he needed to do something to show his assistant how much he appreciated him.

“Let me take you to lunch,” Kurt said. 

Puck smirked at his employer. “I’m sure you never noticed this, but I have standing lunch dates every day of the week. I’d have to cancel on one of my girls and that would be rude.”

Kurt frowned. “One of your girls? How many girlfriends do you have?”

“None,” Puck said with a chuckle. “These are the ladies in the sorting and inspection rooms. They’re like my aunts or something. My mother works down there. I take her to lunch on Mondays, and then Carole and I go out on Tuesdays. Wednesday is Charlotte, Thursday is Jeanie, and Friday is Leona. Not one of them is under the age of forty-five and every one of them still sees me as a kid. But their feelings would be hurt if I skipped on one of them without a really good excuse.”

“Okay, then how about dinner,” Kurt said. He wasn’t sure what to make of the fact that Puck apparently was a mamma’s boy—to no less than five women—but he still wanted to show his appreciation.

“That sounds great,” Puck agreed. “Tonight?”

Kurt nodded and went back to work, already drawn back into his designs.

PKPKPKPKPK

“Why have I never heard of this restaurant?” Kurt asked as he followed Puck to the front door of a building that had absolutely no exterior markings or indications that there was a restaurant inside. “And why does it look like an abandoned building?”

Puck rolled his eyes. “The Crimson Dragon Club isn’t a regular restaurant. It’s a private club. My family has been members for generations. Molly and Mack, the couple who run the place, are like family. Tonight is prime rib night and Molly makes the absolute best prime rib you have ever tasted.”

Kurt allowed Puck to escort him into the building and he was pleasantly surprised to find that it was much nicer inside than the exterior would lead one to believe. From the entry, Kurt could see that there were several rooms, each decorated in tastefully elegant themes. There was a large room that appeared to be a banquet room and Kurt could see that it was being set up for some event.

“My cousin Priscilla is getting married this weekend,” Puck said, his voice uncomfortably close to Kurt’s ear. “They’re setting up for the reception. There will probably be close to five hundred people in there on Saturday.”

“That’s a lot of people,” Kurt said. “And that’s a huge room.”

“You can’t see from here, but there are French doors along the back that lead to the garden. It’s pretty nice out there, even in February. And Molly will have it decked out for the wedding,” Puck said.

Kurt turned to the other doors off the entry. There was a coat check room, where Puck took their coats, a restroom, a stairway to the second floor, and then two other public spaces. One was obviously the restaurant and the other looked to be a bar, complete with TVs playing sports and a jukebox.

“What’s upstairs?”

“Private meeting rooms,” Puck said. “A few B&B type guest rooms. The library. The game room. The club also has a daycare, but it’s in a separate building and is run by another couple.”

“What kind of club is this?” Kurt asked. “Like an Elks Club or something?”

“Something like that,” Puck said evasively. “Let’s go get some of Molly’s great food.”

Puck wasn’t lying about the food. It was the best food he had tasted since leaving Chicago behind, and the prices were much more reasonable. Afterward, Puck talked Kurt into having a drink at the bar despite Kurt’s protests that he would never fit into the blue-collar crowd. 

In fact, Kurt was wearing one of his more flamboyant outfits that day: a dark pink knee length suit jacket over a white button down shirt. The top buttons were open and, rather than a tie, Kurt had a pink and white Hermes scarf he had tied with a rosette knot. His light gray trousers were more form fitting than most men would wear, though they were not nearly as tight as what he used to wear in high school. But when Kurt walked into the bar with Puck, no one seemed to care that he was wearing pink. Instead, they smiled and shook his hand when Puck introduced him to the various people there.

Puck ordered shots of bourbon and beers for them. Kurt was usually more of a mixed drink guy, but he could tell that this wasn’t the type of bar that served many mixed drinks. When the bartender poured them doubles and handed them a bottle of beer each, Kurt raise his glass and said, “To the best damned assistant ever.”

“Whoever he may be,” Puck said with a grin before shooting back his bourbon. Kurt followed suit, but ended up coughing a little from the burn until he took a swig of beer. 

For the next hour, they talked about their lives and their pasts. Puck had fathered a baby girl while still in high school and had wanted to raise her, but the mother gave her away. Kurt had faced bullies his whole life, and had even been forced to go to private school for a while in order to avoid the violence. Puck had spent time in juvie for doing some dumb stunts that had more to do with wanting attention than anything else. Kurt had once belonged to his school’s glee club and had dreamt of becoming a Broadway star.

“What happened?” Puck asked. “I mean, you came here from Chicago, right?”

“Yeah,” Kurt agreed. He was a little tipsy or else he probably wouldn’t be sharing this much with his employee. “By way of New York. I spent two years in Manhattan waiting tables at night and going on auditions every day. In two years, I got zero parts. Oh, I had plenty of talent, but I just wasn’t right for any of the parts. I was too feminine, or too willowy or my voice was too high…” Kurt shrugged. “I even tried for some of the kid roles without success; I was too old. So I gave it up. I mean, I gave it my best and it didn’t work out. So I found another dream.”

“That’s cool,” Puck said. “I dreamed of being a rock star when I was younger. I was in my school’s glee club, too. I play guitar and I write my own music.”

“So why are you here instead of New York or LA?” Kurt asked.

Puck looked away. “Personal reasons.”

“More personal than the other stuff we’ve been sharing?” Kurt wondered. 

“Excuse me for a minute,” Puck said and walked over toward the entrance. 

Kurt figured he had to go to the restroom and watched him walk away. As he watched, however, Kurt thought he saw something… unusual. But it had to just be a trick of the light or the alcohol or something, because people don’t have tails. And if they did, their tails wouldn’t be scaly and deep, dark, blood red. Kurt shook his head and ordered another round for them.

Part Two

When Puck returned, Kurt couldn’t see the tail any longer but he could see those same red scales along Puck’s neck. He reached out a tentative hand. “I think I must be drunker than I thought.”

“Why?” Puck asked as little nervously.

Kurt touched the scales and they felt cool and smooth under his fingers. “Because I could swear that you have scales.”

Puck’s eyes widened and he shot back the drink Kurt had ordered for him. “You see scales?”

Kurt nodded. He continued to run his fingers over the scales in a gentle caress that made Puck shiver. “And I feel them too. But that’s not as strange as the tail.”

“You saw a tail?” Puck asked. He reached out and forced Kurt to look into his eyes. 

Kurt met Puck’s gaze and somehow knew he wasn’t imagining things. “I… You have a tail?”

Puck looked around the room and then asked, “Do you see anyone else here with scales or a tail?”

“Should I?” Kurt asked as he looked around the room. Puck didn’t answer, so Kurt looked at all the people in the room. “That guy looks like he should have scales.”

“That’s Matt,” Puck said. “We were in school together. On the football team together.”

Kurt noticed that Puck didn’t comment on whether he should see scales on that guy or not. “Well, that old guy over there looks like he should have a tail, too. But I don’t actually see them. Why do I think they should have scales?”

Puck sighed, “That is a very long and complicated story and I think there is someone who could explain it better than me.”

“Who?” Kurt asked.

Puck called out their goodbyes to the bartender, threw downs some bills and grabbed Kurt’s hand. Kurt couldn’t help but notice the way his whole arm seemed to tingle with that simple contact, like electricity was dancing across his skin.

“Where are we going?” Kurt asked after they had climbed into Puck’s pickup. “And should you be driving?”

“It takes a lot more than four shots and a couple beers to make me drunk,” Puck said. “And we’re going to visit Carole Hudson.”

“She’s one of the ladies you have lunch with,” Kurt said.

Puck nodded. “She’s the mother of my best friend growing up. She’s better with all this stuff than I am.”

“What stuff?” Kurt asked. He knew he should be more disturbed by everything that was happening, but he was just drunk enough to keep the panic at bay. After all, how often do you find scales on your assistant?

“Just… stuff,” Puck muttered. He was quiet for the rest of the drive and Kurt allowed it. He wasn’t really up to sustaining a one-sided conversation. 

PKPKPKPKKP

Carole Hudson’s house was in an older neighborhood that had seen better days. It was obvious that the people who lived there tried to keep things nice, but the lack of funds and the passage of time were factors that couldn’t be overcome readily. It was a working class neighborhood and Kurt felt right at home there, considering it was the same type of neighborhood as where he grew up.

Puck led Kurt up to the front door and soon they were being greeted by a woman who had obviously been very pretty before a hard life had taken its toll. “Puck! What are you doing here? And who’s your friend?”

Puck stepped inside when Carole opened the door to let them in and Kurt followed. “Carole, this is Kurt, my boss. I told you a little bit about him.”

Carole smiled warmly at Kurt and shook his hand. “It’s very nice to finally meet you.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Kurt said. “Noah speaks very highly of you.”

Carole gave Puck a knowing smile. “He does, does he?”

“Listen Carole, I brought Kurt over because we were at dinner at the club and he saw me,” Puck said.

Carole’s smile faltered. “Did he see anyone else?”

“No, but he picked out Matt and Jerry,” Puck said. “Said they looked like they should have scales.”

“Well,” Carole huffed nonplussed. Then she turned on her heel and walked through a doorway, calling back as she went. “This needs tea. Get your butts in here.”

When they got to the kitchen, Kurt noted that it probably hadn’t been updated since the seventies, but it was at least clean and cozy. Puck sat at the table and so Kurt followed suit. They watched in silence as Carole bustled around putting together a plate of shortbread and got three mugs ready while the water heated in the electric kettle. In just a few minutes, she was setting a mug in front of each of them and urging them to try her homemade shortbread.

“Now,” Carole said once they were all settled in and their teas doctored up the way they liked. “Kurt, you saw Puck’s scales?”

“And a tail,” Kurt mumbled into this mug. He was feeling a little more like his usual self, but he was still a little drunk. “And I touched his scales. They felt cool and smooth, like a snake.”

Carole glanced at Puck, who shrugged in return. “He’s been drinking.”

Carole nodded. “It probably helped him let go of his disbelief.”

“What are you?” Kurt asked Puck. He knew that he wasn’t dreaming or drunk enough to be hallucinating. 

The other two occupants of the room shared another meaningful look before Puck said, “I’m a dragon.”

Kurt smiled and then laughed lightly at the joke. Only neither Carole or Puck were laughing. Slowly his laughter died out. “But that’s…” He stopped and looked at them again. “Even with scales and a tail, you really don’t look like a dragon.”

“Because I’m in my human form,” Puck explained. “I can transform into a full dragon, but not in here. I’d wreck Carole’s kitchen.”

“I don’t understand,” Kurt said feeling a little overwhelmed. “You’re a dragon. And those guys at the bar?”

“Dragons,” Carole confirmed. 

“Was everyone at the club a dragon?” Kurt asked. If so, the name of the club would make a lot more sense.

“Not everyone,” Puck said. “Just the three of us. Me and the other two you picked out.”

Kurt nodded. “But the others know about the dragons.”

“Yes,” Carole said. “We are a close community. You need to understand that there are very few dragons. They were almost hunted out of existence in the dark ages and so they adapted. The innate magic in them allowed them to change into a human form in order to hide. Even so, they felt the need to create safe communities away from the rest of the world. The first was in Russia. Since then, there have been colonies created in Norway, South Africa, Australia, India, China, Paraguay, and Montana.”

“So there is a colony of dragons here,” Kurt said. “Hiding among the rest of the regular people?”

“Most people can’t see a dragon’s tail or scales,” Carole said. “And dragons need space and safety to fly free. So the dragons stay in Montana. Some out in the smaller towns. There are even a couple towns that are solely inhabited by the dragon community.”

“But not everyone in the dragon community is a dragon, is that right?” Kurt asked. He was definitely beginning to sober up now.

“I’m not a dragon, but my son is,” Carole said. “It’s a recessive gene and only a few are blessed with the gift.”

“So it’s just dragons and their families in these communities,” Kurt said. He took another drink of his tea but something hit him. “But if only those in the community, dragons and their families, can see the dragons… How can I see Noah’s dragon bits?”

They exchanged another look and Carole was the one who spoke again. “There are two possible reasons a person outside the community can see scales. Because the dragon is a recessive gene, it is possible for a non-dragon to leave the community and lose the family history through the generations. And then a descendent of a dragon stumbles on the colony and gets a shock. It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. But when that happens that person can see all dragons.”

“So my ancestor wasn’t a dragon,” Kurt said. “So who else can see dragons?”

“Dragon riders,” Puck said gruffly.

“Dragon riders?” Kurt asked.

Carole nodded and put her hand over Kurt’s. “Dragons, because they are magical creatures, don’t fall in love and get married like other people. They have mates. Only a dragon’s mate can ride a dragon.”

“And you know when a dragon has found his mate because he can see his tail and scales,” Kurt said a little breathlessly. He looked at Puck, who looked more than a little nervous, though he didn’t seem upset by the fact that it was Kurt. No, he just looked like he was holding his breath waiting to see how Kurt would take the news. “Well, that’s… an odd way to find a life partner.”

“Kurt, sweetie, I know that this is a lot to take in all at once,” Carole said. “But this isn’t going to go away. You will continue to see Puck’s tail and scales. Maybe not all the time at first, but eventually it will happen. And the draw to be with him will increase. The sooner the two of you can work things out, the easier it will be for both of you.”

Kurt swallowed hard and then looked at Carole. “Were you a rider?”

“No, but my papa is,” Carole said. “He and daddy moved down to the colony in Paraguay to help them revitalize the colony’s economy. Things are pretty bad there.”

Kurt frowned. “Um, aren’t they a little old…”

Carole smiled. “Not at all. Dragon’s and riders don’t age the same we normal humans do. Once you and Puck bond, your aging will slow to his pace. Most dragons and riders live well into their third century. My fathers actually look younger than me now.”

“Oh.” Kurt really wasn’t sure if that was good news or bad. He glanced at Puck who was looking rather nervous. “What about you? I mean, you’re okay with all this?”

Puck shrugged. “I’ve always known this is how it would be. Never figured I’d have a male rider, but that doesn’t really bother me all that much.”

Kurt shook his head. “I think… I think I need time to think about all this.”

PKPKPKPKPK

Rather than driving Kurt back to the office and his car, Puck took him home. They were quiet for most of the ride, but once they had pulled into the driveway, Kurt suddenly turned to Puck. “Would you like to come inside?”

“Sure,” Puck said with a shrug. 

Kurt showed the other man inside and took his coat before heading to the bar in the great room to pour them drinks. Puck lit the fire that had been laid in the fire place and then took a seat on the sofa and was pleased when Kurt chose to sit beside him rather than in one of the chairs. He took the beer from Kurt’s hand and set it on the coffee table and then did the same with Kurt’s wine.

“What…?”

Kurt didn’t have time to finish his question before Puck had captured his lips in a searing kiss. Well, that was a rather pleasant surprise. Kurt felt like his entire body was about to burst into flames from the heat of that single kiss. It was so startlingly different from any kiss he had ever shared with Blaine, his ex-boyfriend from high school and for two years in New York. There had been a few other men since Blaine, but none of them compared to the passion in that one single kiss from Noah Puckerman. 

“Wow,” Kurt breathed out when Noah finally pulled back enough to allow him to speak.

Puck grinned. “Thought I’d get that out of the way. It’ll give you something to think about when you’re contemplating all the other shit that goes along with being a rider. If nothing else, the sex is going to be fucking fantastic.”

Kurt nodded dumbly, unable to form a coherent sentence for the life of him. So he gave up trying and pulled Puck back to him so that they could share some more of those mind altering kisses.

PKPKPKPKPK


	2. Theater

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt's the Managing Director of a theater company and Puck is interviewing for a job.

Kurt Hummel sighed as he looked out of his twelfth floor office window over the city street below. Somehow he had always pictured his life turning out different. He had imagined that by the time he turned thirty that he would be a Broadway star, married to Blaine Anderson, and would have adopted at least one child. Instead, he was just days from his thirtieth birthday and was not a star, was not married to Blaine or anyone else, and the closest thing he had gotten to raising a child was that plant he had received from Rachel at his housewarming party two years ago. (And it was a miracle that the thing was still alive. Seriously, he never remembered to water the damned thing, but it just refused to die.)

He’d had so many expectations when he’d left Lima for good, but none of them had worked out the way he had planned. Then again, his life wasn’t bad. He had a great job running a non-profit theater off-Broadway. He had a lot of friends, which surprisingly still included Blaine, Santana and Rachel. He was happy with his life. Mostly. He just thought that once he made it to New York that he would find love and acceptance. He had found acceptance, but not the love.

That wasn’t to say that he had spent the last 12 years alone. After Blaine had cheated on him during their year apart, Kurt had been heartbroken for a while, but he had eventually gotten past it. He had forgiven Blaine and they had become friends again. He had dated Adam. And when he and Adam broke up, he and Blaine had tried dating again, only to decide that they were better off as friends. Then there had been Charlie, Daniel, Chad, Mitch and Alex, with a few short term guys sprinkled in between. But not one of them had worked out. Not one of them had been what Kurt really wanted. Or he had not been what they wanted. Or perhaps it had been a combination of the two.

Kurt shook his head. Just because he was turning thirty was no excuse for becoming maudlin. He had a great life. And when he was meant to find love, he would find it.

“Kurt?”

Kurt turned at the sound of a knock at his door to find his assistant standing there with a stack of files. “Yes, Kate?”

“These are the files that Jenny sent up from HR,” Kate said as she handed over the stack, “for interviews for the House Technical Director. You need to look them over this morning. And I’ve set up interviews beginning after lunch. They’re on your calendar, so if you only want to look over the five scheduled today, you can find their names there.”

Kurt sighed. “I hate interviews.”

“I know,” Kate said. “But we’ve got to get someone in to replace Jimmy. The Level C season starts in less than two months and Jimmy’s retiring in three weeks. There’s no time to wallow.”

“I know,” Kurt said. “I’ll look over these before the first interview.”

“I’ve ordered lunch from In the Pink,” Kate said. “I got you the oriental salad with grilled salmon.”

“Thanks,” Kurt said but his attention was already turning to the files in his hands as he took a seat at his desk. “Kate?”

The tiny blond woman stopped in the doorway. “What is it?”

Kurt was still staring at the file in his hands. “This can’t be right.”

“What is it?” Kate repeated.

“This name, it has to be a mistake,” Kurt said. “Noah Puckerman?”

“That’s the name on the resume,” Kate said with a shrug. “Why do, you know him?”

“Maybe,” Kurt said. 

Kurt didn’t notice when Kate left. He was too deeply absorbed in the resume before him to really be interested in anything else.

Noah Puckerman. It couldn’t be the same person. And yet… According to the resume, the guy got his start in Columbus working as a carpenter for a local theater. He’d gotten his degree in theater from OSU while working there. If it was the same Puck, it had taken him a couple extra years, since he hadn’t graduated from college until two years after Kurt. But the guy had worked his way around the theater, holding several technical positions, everything from carpenter to lighting to audio engineer. Then, three years ago, he had taken the job of Assistant Technical Director. Kurt knew the theater there, and knew that they were a much larger operation than the theater Kurt ran. In some ways, the move would probably be lateral for the guy. The pay was a lot better but the cost of living was much higher, too. Then again, there were a lot of theaters in New York and not many in Columbus. If he wanted to eventually grow beyond his current position, there weren’t many options in Ohio.

Kurt looked at the resume again and wondered if this could be the same Noah Puckerman he had known in high school. He wondered if he still had the Mohawk. He wondered if he still kept in touch with Shelby and Beth. He wondered how he had gone from cleaning pools to working in a theater.

Shaking off those thoughts as Kate returned a few minutes later with lunch, Kurt decided he would just have to wait and see. In the meantime, there were ten other resumes that he needed to review.

PKPKPKPKPK

Noah Puckerman sat in the waiting area of the Frontline Theater’s offices, nervously bouncing his right leg as he waited to be called into his interview. He had already met with the head of their HR department, and now he was meeting with the theater’s Managing Director, one Kurt Hummel. Puck was almost positive that this was the same Kurt Hummel he had gone to high school with what felt like a lifetime ago. 

If it was the same Kurt Hummel, Puck wasn’t really sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, it could work in his favor, because, well, they’d been teammates and all. On the other hand, even as teammates, they hadn’t really been great friends. Sure Puck had stopped tossing Kurt into dumpsters sometime in their sophomore year, but that didn’t mean they were close. In some ways, he’d been closer to the dude’s boyfriend, the hobbit, than he had with Kurt. At least the hobbit had liked hanging out and playing video games with the guys and boxing and shit.

When he really thought about it, Puck could only really hope that if it was the same Hummel that he wouldn’t hold Puck’s past against him.

“Mr. Puckerman?” Kate, the cute blond who had greeted him earlier came around the corner and smiled to him. A few years ago, he would have been all over her, job interview or no job interview. Now, he had learned a few things about self-control and acting appropriately. Colin, his friend and mentor at his old theater, had taught him that. “Mr. Hummel will see you now.”

Puck got up to follow the tiny woman down the hall. This theater was a lot different than the one he came from. In some ways, it was a lot cooler. It was in Manhattan, to start with. But it was also housed in a modern high rise building, with three theaters and a full service restaurant. On the other hand, it was all pretty cramped. Those three theaters were stacked one on top of the other, each taking up what had once been three floors of office space. And the offices were just shoved all together on the top two floors, creating a maze of rooms and hallways.

As Puck entered the office behind Kate, however, he got why the offices were on the top floor. The view was pretty amazing. From where he stood, he could see the streets of Manhattan laid out below. And then he turned and saw the guy in charge and Puck wished, for just a second, that those windows would open so that he could take a running leap out of them.

“So, it is you,” Kurt said with a small smile that immediately set Puck at ease. “I had wondered when Kate gave me your resume.”

“Jesus, Hummel, looks like you made good,” Puck said with a grin. “But I thought you were bound for the boards, not the board room?”

Kurt shook his head ruefully and sat behind his desk. “So did I. But this is good too. How did you end up in theater? Last I heard, you moved back to Lima after California didn’t pan out?”

“Well, I met a guy who knew a guy who worked for the theater in Columbus,” Puck said with a shrug as he took the seat on the other side of Kurt’s desk. “I needed to make money somehow, and I thought I was bound to be a screenwriter, so I thought a little immersion in theater life wouldn’t hurt. I got hooked. Colin, the Tech Director, kind of took me under his wing and made me go to college. Made me get experience in a lot of the different production jobs, too. And then he made me his assistant.”

“Why come to New York?” Kurt wondered. “I didn’t think it was really your dream to be here.”

“Beth,” Puck said quietly. “For the last year, Shelby and Beth have been in New York. They were in Columbus before that and I really liked being able to see Beth. We hang out one or two Saturdays a month. I’m not like her parent, but I’m kinda like her fun uncle or something. She started high school last year, so we probably won’t get to hang out as often now, but I still miss her. Anyway, I’ve been looking for something around here since they moved. I got accepted into the local union six months ago, but haven’t found the right job.”

Kurt nodded. “I’m surprised it only took you six months to get in to the union.”

“They’re softies for a good sob story,” Puck shrugged. 

Kurt grinned at that. In his experience, that was true. The unions got a bad rap, but in truth, they were mostly family men just trying to make a decent living. “Alright. Enough personal stuff for now. Tell me about the theater you worked for. I know a little bit from going there back when I was at Dalton, but that was only front of house impressions.”

“Well, you probably know then that we had two theaters, one 500 seat and one 1,000 seat,” Puck said. “We had a lot of touring companies, dance troupes and musical acts that weren’t big enough for the arenas. We produced a few small events in house and collaborated with OSU on several of their productions each year. On average, we either produced or hosted 70 events in the big theater each year and about 40 in the smaller theater. There was a lot of overlap between the two theaters, and when that happened, I usually acted as TD for the smaller theater while Collin took the larger theater. With such quick turnaround between the visiting performers, there was a lot of juggling of time and personnel.”

“I can imagine,” Kurt said. “There’s plenty of juggling here, too. Though we don’t shift shows quite so quickly. I’m sure Jenny told you some of this, but I’ll go over it again. We produce all of our own shows. The three theaters each hold 600 seats, and each serves a different purpose. Level A is where we produce up and coming musicals. These run basically as long as we can keep filling the seats or until they get picked up for Broadway. Level B is basically the same, but we produce straight drama there. Level C is constantly rotating. This is where we resurrect the classics and run them for a limited period. Usually, this means we have a two month turnaround. Two weeks prep, and then a month and a half of shows. The Level C season starts in September and runs through June.

“Because there are three theaters, we do employ two ATDs,” Kurt continued. “However, most of the time, we try to keep from having any more than one theater in prep at a time. As you know, when it comes to tech, the bulk of the work is done during prep time. After that, it’s pretty much just fixing any bugs that come up.”

Puck chuckled at that. “It sounds like a breeze compared to prepping four shows in a week, even if those shows were touring groups with their systems already in place.”

Kurt nodded. “I’m sure it does.”

For the next hour, they talked more about the specifics of the job and how Puck would handle certain situations if they arose. The more Kurt talked to Puck, the more impressed he was by the guy’s knowledge of the business. Without knowing Puck in the past, Kurt would have offered him the job on the spot. As it stood, Kurt had to really consider his motives and so held back.

“You’re my last appointment for the day,” Kurt said when they were finished. “Would you like to get dinner and catch up?”

“Sure,” Puck said and then he grinned. “So, no hint about the job?”

Kurt smiled back. “I have to see the other applicants. But I have to say that I was impressed.”

“I’m a pretty impressive guy,” Puck said and Kurt could see the cocky jock Puck was in high school for just a minute.

PKPKPKPKPK

“So, how’d you go from wanting to perform to running a theater?” Puck asked once they had been shown to their seats in a restaurant a few blocks away. They had been served wine and their orders had been taken, so they were free to talk.

Kurt shrugged. “It wasn’t anything I planned. I don’t know how much you knew or remember from back in senior year, but NYADA was pretty much my dream. And then I didn’t get in at first. So I kept trying and got accepted for the spring semester. And at first, I was absolutely in love with it. I kicked ass in my acting and singing courses, but I kept struggling with dance. And then, I did a summer internship here between sophomore and junior years, working in development and raising money. I got a chance to see the inner workings of the business side of things.”

“So you jumped ship?” Puck asked.

“Not exactly,” Kurt chuckled. “I still wanted to perform, but when I got back from the internship, I had a different perspective. I started taking more courses in the production and business side of things. I still went out for parts in the school productions and still took all the performance classes, but I graduated with a double major, one in musical theater and one in theater management.

“And then, once I had graduated, I went to work here as an assistant stage manager,” Kurt said. “It was only supposed to last until I found the perfect part. I still went to auditions and tried for roles here and in other theaters. And then a man I greatly respected and admired took me aside one day, after another failed audition. He was the director for one of the long running Broadway shows I loved at the time. Anyway, he took me to lunch and gave me some advice. He said that while I had an amazing voice and stage presence, my dancing wasn’t strong enough for a chorus part and my voice and look wasn’t right for a leading role. He told me that I would likely struggle my entire career, fighting tooth and nail for every part and that I might never find the right part.”

“Dude, that’s a shitty thing to tell someone,” Puck said.

Kurt laughed at that. “It was pretty shitty. I think I cried for almost a week after that. It felt like it anyway. But afterwards, I really thought about what he had said. I knew he was right. I knew it back in high school. But I wanted to believe that I could overcome anything. But even in NYADA, I rarely got the good roles. I had one of the strongest voices. I won awards for my singing and acting, but I never got the lead roles.”

“Like West Side Story all over again,” Puck said.

“Exactly,” Kurt agreed with a rueful smile. “I can’t believe you remember that. Anyway, I decided that if I couldn’t make it to the top as a performer, then I was going to make it to the top on the business side. Within a year, I was the stage manager for Level A. A year after that, I was directing my first production. Two years later, I was producing. While I was doing, that, however, I kept my fingers in the administrative side of things. I went to all the fundraisers and met with the board members. I presented ideas for how to improve our overall bottom line. And when our previous managing director took a job running a performing arts center in Dallas, I put my name in for the job.”

“That’s fucking amazing,” Puck said. “I mean, you’re still so young to be a managing director. You really must have impressed the pants off the board.”

“I’m a pretty impressive guy, too,” Kurt repeated Puck’s words with a smirk.

Puck chuckled at that. “So whatever happened to the hobbit? I know you guys were broke up or whatever at Schue’s wedding. But I kind got the feeling that it was just a matter of time before you got back together. There was the whole ex-sex thing.”

“Well, I held out for a few more months,” Kurt admitted. “But we did get together again before he graduated. And then he went to NYADA and moved in with me, Rachel and Santana. We dated the second time for about a year, but I think we both realized that whatever dreams we had about each other were just that, dreams. We’re still good friends. He’s actually been in a couple of the Level A musicals. He had the lead in the last one we had that went on to Broadway. It ran there for more than a year. Now he’s starring as Prince Eric in Disney’s Little Mermaid.”

“I can totally see him playing that part,” Puck said with a smirk.

“But you should know all of this already. Don’t you get the monthly updates from Rachel?” Kurt asked. “I thought everyone in glee club got them.”

Puck shook his head. “I blocked her emails way back in high school. Never thought to unblock her. I’ve emailed with Finn a few times over the years, but mostly I’ve lost touch with everyone. I was more concerned with getting on with my career and spending time with Beth.”

“So you know that Finn and Rachel never did make it?” Kurt asked. “Because that is a story I don’t relish rehashing.”

Puck smiled. “Yeah, I heard that gruesome tale from Finn. You still in touch with anyone besides the hobbit?”

“Well, Rachel and Santana,” Kurt said. “They’re both still in the city. Since we all moved to our own apartments, we don’t see each other as often as we once did, but yeah, I probably see each of them at least once a month. And then Mercedes and I email a bit. She’s still in contact with Quinn. I hear about Tina and Sam through Blaine. I hear about Britt from Santana. And Rachel pretty much bugs everyone for updates to include in her monthly emails. I think, for the most part, you’re the only one who dropped off the face of the earth.”

Puck frowned. “I didn’t drop off the face of the earth. Rachel’s email is the only one I blocked. I might not have written to everyone, but no one but Finn wrote to me either.”

Kurt bit his lip for a moment. “I’m sorry. You’re right. We could have… I could have written. I should have.”

“’S’okay,” Puck said. “We all went our separate ways and got on with life. No big deal.”

“You’ve done pretty damn well for yourself,” Kurt said. 

“Surprising, huh?” Puck asked with a smug grin. “Shocked the shit out of me when I got into college and nearly gave my mother a heart attack when I actually graduated. But I did it. And now I have a decent job that pays the bills and leaves me with a little left over each month.”

Their food came then and Kurt waited for a few minutes before asking his next question. “How long are you in town? And where are you staying?”

“Well, I’ve got another interview with a theater in New Jersey day after tomorrow, plus I figured I could see Beth while I’m here, so I’m here through the weekend,” Puck said. “I just flew in this morning and didn’t have time to check in yet, but I’m supposed to stay at some hotel nearby. Shelby set it up.”

“Where do she and Beth live?” Kurt asked.

“Upper West Side,” Puck said. “In the eighties. Why?”

Kurt shrugged. “I live not far from here, on 58th street, and I have an extra room. If you wanted to save a bit of money, you could stay with me.”

“Seriously?” Puck asked. “That would be great, actually. Do you know how much they charge for a single night at these hotels? It’s insane. I stowed my bags at Penn Station when I took the train in from Newark Airport, so I’d have to stop back there and get them.”

“No problem,” Kurt said. “We’ll just get a taxi when we’re done here.”

PKPKPKPKPK

The rest of dinner was spent mostly with Kurt filling Puck in on how the rest of the glee club was doing. They talked a little bit about their respective lives, but nothing too personal. Puck was grateful for that. There was a lot about his life that he hadn’t really shared with anyone but his few friends in Columbus and he didn’t necessarily want things to get back to his old teammates. It wasn’t that he was ashamed, and it wasn’t that he didn’t think Kurt would keep quiet if he asked him, but people thought of him in a certain way, and Puck wasn’t really ready to shatter that image.

Even so, he knew that if he did get the job at Frontline Theater, he would be spending a lot of time with Kurt and some things would inevitably come to light.

Puck shoved that thought away as he followed Kurt out of the elevator in his building and headed down the hall to his front door. The building was actually a lot nicer than Puck had expected. He knew that New York real estate prices were outrageous. Once they entered the apartment, he was again surprised. It was nothing like he would have imagined having seen both Kurt’s basement bedroom and his bedroom in the new house back in high school. It was warm and cozy rather than cool. He used a lot of color to make the place seem bright, cheerful and comfortable, and yet it was still stylish.

The place was also a bit larger than Puck had expected. The main living space was all open with the living room flowing into the dining room flowing into the kitchen. The office/music room was only separated out by a half wall and moving etched-glass panels that could give some privacy. Puck supposed the place was technically a loft apartment because there was an open staircase leading to a balcony that overlooked the living room and the slanted windows that made up the ceiling over that room.

“I’ll show you to the guest room,” Kurt said as he carried one of Puck’s bags up the stairs. 

Puck followed behind and saw that the bedrooms were designed similarly to the office, with half walls. Unlike the office, these walls were finished with thick glass to act as a sound barrier. The glass, however, was etched with the same pattern for privacy. It allowed the sunlight in, but kept out unwanted peepers. Considering Puck could see no less than five buildings even with them and well within binocular range, he thought that privacy was probably a good idea.

The guest bedroom was at least as large as Puck’s bedroom back home, and it was equipped with an en suite bathroom and a walk in closet. If Kurt’s room was bigger, it couldn’t be by much, Puck thought.

“There are shades you can lower if you want to block the light in the morning,” Kurt said from the doorway and pointed out the control to do just that. “Since the only windows are on the one side of the apartment, I feel like it’s important to make the most of the light they let in.”

“It’s a great place,” Puck said as he set his bag on the wooden chest at the foot of the best. “And a lot nicer than I would have imagined. I mean, you hear such horror stories about the tiny places in New York.”

Kurt laughed. “I lived that horror story for a long time. It’s only been the last couple years that I’ve been able to afford this place. But I’m glad you like it. I’m going to go fix myself a nightcap if you want to join me.”

“Just let me change clothes and hang a couple things up and I’ll be down,” Puck said. He’d only brought the one suit and he didn’t want to get it too wrinkled before he had to wear it again on Thursday.


	3. Carrier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Puck is being abused because he is a carrier. Kurt rescues him.
> 
> Mpreg mentioned.

The fact that Noah Puckerman was a carrier was a well-guarded secret. No one, not even his best friend Finn—in fact, not even Noah himself—knew that when he had been a mere seven years old and the time came for mandatory testing his parents had taken him to a back alley doctor in Cleveland to have him tested. (Because if a board certified doctor had found out, they were required by law to register him as such and Abraham and Lilith Puckerman had no intention of ever letting it be known that they had spawned such an aberration. What would the neighbors think?) When the news came back that Noah was, indeed, a carrier there had been finger pointing and arguments about what to do about the “problem”. The result had been the end of their marriage, despite the fact that Lilith was pregnant with their second child.

Lilith Puckerman had never explained any of this to young Noah. Instead, she was determined to see that her boy was raised as a normal boy and since he would obviously never engage in homosexual acts, there would never be a need to inform him or anyone else of his abnormality.

The two adult Puckermans were in the minority where their opinions of carriers were concerned. Most people saw them as a gift to the world. It was because of carriers that gay rights had been put into law back in the early eighties. It was because of them that civilization hadn’t dwindled in the years since the Fertility Crisis that began in 1962.

Doctors and scientists cited a pandemic spread of a seemingly otherwise harmless flu strain that, unfortunately, damaged the reproductive system in women as the cause of the Fertility Crisis. It was also unfortunate that the results of this flu bug weren’t discovered until it was too late. Over a two year period, nearly 2/3s of the once fertile female population of the world was rendered infertile by this simple illness that only lasted a couple days and appeared no different than the normal strain of flu. As an added consequence, the subsequent generations were also affected; those who were still able to have children often found later that their daughters were infertile.

These same scientists cited the Fertility Crisis as the catalyst for the genetic mutation which now enabled certain men to become pregnant. It was thanks to these men that the world population hadn’t dwindled to a mere fraction of what it once was. The population had dropped off some in every country, especially in the years directly following the Crisis, but had slowly risen as the carriers who were born right after the Crisis grew into men and were able to begin contributing to the population.

There were still those who held onto outdated and rigid religious beliefs—entire nations and cultures, in fact—but those who did were quickly discovering that their numbers were dropping off at a rapid pace as they simply could not keep producing the next generation without carriers. As it was, those nations which had embraced the changes were still struggling to recover from almost two decades of decline. 

So vaccinations and inoculations were developed to prevent another flu epidemic. Furthermore, laws were set in place to shield carriers from harm and doctors were required to report any carriers to their local health board so that they could be monitored and protected.

Noah never received those protections.

By the time Noah Puckerman—known as Puck to friend and foe alike—reached high school, he had borne the brunt of growing up without a father, with a mother who resented him for his father’s absence and who tried to force him to conform to a specific mold. By any means necessary. All the while, he watched his mother dote on his little sister and anger and resentment began to fester along with a deep-seated sense of worthlessness. It was his mother’s attitude which hurt him the most, though her fists certainly hurt too.

The first time eight-year-old Noah had innocently asked if two boys could kiss, he had been beaten and locked into a closet for two days. He had learned not to ask such questions. And when his eyes would stray to the other boys in synagogue instead of the girls, he was treated similarly, until Puck understood that he was not allowed to like boys in that way. 

After years of this abuse, when Puck first saw Kurt Hummel who was unashamed of his sexuality, his reaction was a mixture of jealousy and rage—and more than a little self-loathing because of the instant desire he felt for the beautiful boy—that manifested in a brutal shove into a locker. For more than a year, Puck took that anger out on the other boy, though each time he did, he hated himself just a little bit more.

Then Finn, Puck’s best friend, joined the glee club and everything changed. 

PKPKPKPKPK

Kurt Hummel watched as Puck chatted up another Cheerio and shook his head in disgust. The boy had no shame. If half the rumors about the boy’s sex life were true then Kurt didn’t know how he had enough energy to walk let alone play football or dance in glee club. The stories had to be exaggerated. For one, there would have been at least one pregnancy, despite the low fertility rates. For another, there simply weren’t that many women in all of Lima.

“What’s your problem Hummel?” Puck asked. While Kurt had been musing, he hadn’t noticed the other teen’s approach.

“Just wondering how you can keep track of them all,” Kurt asked. “Doesn’t it get old?”

Puck, in an uncharacteristic display of honesty said, “Yeah, but it’s who I’m supposed to be.”

Before Kurt could ask what that meant, they were interrupted by Finn and Rachel who were arguing over the merits of AC/DC versus Barry Manilow as the 70’s greatest performer. Kurt shook his head in exasperation as Puck joined the argument. He walked to the choir room and let the others trail behind him.

That remark from Puck seemed to stick in Kurt’s head however, drawing his attention from the rehearsal and sticking with him through the evening. He was quiet through dinner with his dad, Carole and Finn. He went to bed at an unusually early hour and just lay there in the dark considering what Puck could have meant by those words. 

It wasn’t like they were friends. Despite being in glee together for the past year, Kurt and Puck had very little in common. Sure Puck had stuck up for him when some of the jocks had tormented him for being different, but it hadn’t been all that long ago when Puck would have been right beside those same jocks, tossing him into a dumpster. 

Kurt was different, something that didn’t go over well in a small town like Lima, Ohio. He dressed different. He got good grades. He stuck out like a sore thumb and had always taken the brunt of teasing and bullying for that reason. Being gay was okay—sort of. It wasn’t exactly common in Lima, but there were enough carriers even in their little town that being gay was not an issue. Being different, being more effeminate without the excuse of being a carrier, wasn’t acceptable at all. Kurt often wished that he was a carrier because then he would be protected from the worst of the tormenting. He’d made his father get him tested three times over the years, but the tests always came back negative. Instead, Kurt was just different.

There were a number of their classmates that had two fathers: Rachel, Brittany, Artie and Tina just from their glee club. And their town sorely needed all the help it could get population-wise. His father often talked about how their town had gone from a population of almost 60,000 in the late 60’s to a population of less than 35,000 today. And that was an improvement over the low point of 20,000 that hit in the late 80’s. Many companies had been forced to leave the area because of the lack of workers. Now the town was growing again and some companies were coming back.

Of course none of that helped Kurt figure out what Puck had meant by what he had said. And when sleep finally took him, Kurt still had no idea why Puck would think he was supposed to fuck every girl in the county.

PKPKPKPKPK

For three weeks after that little comment, Kurt watched Puck closely—when he wasn’t trying to hide from Karofsky, that is; that boy was one seriously messed up dude—and what he saw made him worry. Sure Puck was still hitting on everything in a skirt, but there was something under all that flirtation and sexual exhibitionism that was not good. Puck would flirt with a Cheerio, but as soon as he turned away, there would be a haunted and sad look in his eyes. The thing that surprised Kurt the most was the fact that no one seemed to notice. Puck was surrounded by so-called friends, but not one of them ever noticed how unhappy he was.

And then there were the bruises. Puck wore them proudly, telling stories about football or brawls and his friends all ate them up. But football had ended a month before and Kurt noted that Puck’s hands were never messed up the way they would be if he had been fighting. There were no bruised or cut knuckles, only the bruises on Puck’s face and body. Most damning of all were the bruises on the other teen’s forearms, as though he had held them up to protect himself and they took the worst of the beating.

Kurt’s mind formed all sorts of conclusions but the scary one that would not just go away was that Puck was being abused.

For a kid who always seemed to know what to do, Kurt was at a complete loss. How was he supposed to deal with this? He and Puck weren’t even friends; the boy would probably resent any attempts that Kurt made to interfere. Then again, could Kurt live with himself if he did nothing and something really bad happened to Puck as a result?

“Carole?” Kurt asked as the two washed the dishes after dinner one Friday evening. 

“What’s up sweetie?” Carole asked with concern. She could hear the hesitation in Kurt’s voice and knew there had been something troubling him for a while now.

Kurt wavered before seeming to steel himself. “How much do you know about Puck’s home life?”

Carole paused what she was doing and dried her hands. She took Kurt’s hand and led him over to the kitchen table. “I know it isn’t all that great, but Noah will never talk about it.”

“I’ve noticed a lot of bruises and something he said once made me think that maybe…” Kurt let that thought trail off, uncomfortable verbalizing his suspicions. 

“You think someone is hurting him?” Carole asked with a frown.

Kurt nodded. “He tells stories about fights, but his knuckles are never bruised and his forearms are, like he was trying to protect himself without hitting back.”

Carole nodded in understanding. “Have you talked to him about it?”

Kurt shrugged. “We aren’t exactly friends. He wouldn’t have any reason to confide in me.”

“Maybe not,” Carole said. “But he’s the only person who can make it stop. Maybe he needs to know that he’s got support if he chooses to tell the truth.”

“Will you talk to him with me?” Kurt asked looking at his stepmother hopefully.

Carole smiled. “Sure. We’ll go together. It’s about time I reminded him that he’s welcome around here.”

They finished up the dishes and Carole gave Burt some excuse about where she and Kurt were going. Burt and Finn were both so caught up in whatever game they were watching that they barely even noted their departure. 

Kurt was quiet on the ride over, but just before they pulled into the drive he said, “He said he sleeps around with girls because he’s ‘supposed’ to. What do you think that means?”

Carole shut off the car and stared out into the cold January night for a while before she turned to Kurt. “I don’t know. But if he brought it up to you, maybe it’s his way of reaching out for help.”

“Maybe,” Kurt said and took a deep breath before unbuckling and climbing from the car.

As soon as they reached the front door, they could tell that something was very wrong in the Puckerman house. Carole and Kurt could hear shouting and crying and it was hard to tell what was being said, but it was quite obvious that they needed to intervene. Carole rang the doorbell and it seemed like everything in the house seemed to stop.

It took a few minutes, but eventually a very disheveled Lilith Puckerman swung the door open. “Carole.”

“Lilith,” Carole said coolly. “I’m here to see Noah.”

Lilith closed the door a little when she noticed Kurt trying to get a peek past her. “Noah is not available.”

Kurt could hear a young girl crying, and Carole seemed to fortify herself for the battle that was about to commence. “I won’t take no for an answer.”

“I said Noah isn’t available,” Lilith hissed, some of the fury that had obviously been just below the surface showed.

“Would you rather I called the police to come check out the domestic disturbance?” Carole asked with steely determination.

Lilith seemed to waver for a moment, but they didn’t have time to wait for her answer because that same girl who had been crying was now screaming for help. Carole pushed Lilith aside and Kurt followed her into the house. They found Puck and his sister in the living room. Puck was obviously unconscious and bleeding from multiple wounds. The sister was bent over Puck screaming for help. It was obvious what had upset her so much. Puck’s body was writhing and twitching as it went through a seizure.

Carole didn’t spare a glance at Lilith as her nurse’s instincts took over and she rushed to help the injured boy. She gave Kurt instructions to call 911 and then told him what to tell the dispatcher while she began to tend to Puck. Sarah, as Kurt discovered Puck’s younger sister was called, was sent to get towels. It kept her occupied and helped out at the same time. 

The next hour seemed to both fly by and drag at the same time. Puck was rushed to the hospital, along with Carole. Kurt followed behind with Sarah. None of them cared whether Lilith followed or not. When Kurt and Sarah arrived, the cops were waiting to talk to them. 

“She hit him,” a tearful Sarah told the police gentle female officer who was questioning her. “She hit him with a frying pan. She hits him a lot. I don’t know why she’s so mean to him. She yells and locks him in the closet and hits him… And he never fights back…”

Sarah was reduced to uncontrollable tears at this point and the police officer asked Kurt to describe what they had found when they arrived. Kurt did so and then told her of his suspicions and the reason for their visit. Social Services were called and Carole told them that she and Burt would take charge of both Puck and Sarah until an investigation could be conducted. Carole sat with Sarah, comforting the 9 year old girl as best she could. Kurt sat beside her and tried to make sense of everything that had just happened.

PKPKPKPKPK

Puck woke up in a hospital room and groaned with frustration. This was not good. Doctors asked questions and Sarah was never very good about lying. He tried to sit up but found that it was almost impossible. Everything hurt. 

“Puck, sweetie, don’t try to move,” Carole Hudson—no, it was Hummel now—said gently as she pressed him back into the bed. 

“Sarah?” Puck asked.

“Kurt took her to our house last night,” Carole said. “They’ll be back soon. I’m not sure either of them could be kept away at this point.”

“What… what are…?” Puck couldn’t seem to form full sentences, but Carole seemed to understand.

“Kurt was worried about you,” Carole said. “He’d noticed the bruises and figured out that your cover stories didn’t add up. So we were coming over to try and talk some sense into you. You were seizing when we got there.”

“Seizing?”

“She gave you a pretty good concussion,” Carole said. “The swelling put a lot of pressure on your brain and it caused you to have a couple seizures. Now that the swelling has gone down a bit, they think you’ll be okay.”

Puck nodded slowly. Carole wasn’t finished, however. “The police and social services are investigating. You and Sarah will both be staying at our house for the time being.”

Puck turned wide eyes to Carole. “But…”

“No buts about it,” Carole said sternly. “Noah, I don’t know why you felt you couldn’t tell anyone about this, but you aren’t alone. There are people who care about you. And if you are too stubborn to seek help for yourself, we’re going to make sure you get it anyway. So don’t argue with me on this. You and Sarah will both be safe.”

Puck got a little choked up, but refused to let his tears fall. Instead he nodded again and turned his head away. Soon, the comforting blackness of sleep claimed him once again.

PKPKPKPKPK

When Puck woke again, Kurt was beside his bed. The smaller boy looked a little tired and a lot annoyed. “You had to be cryptic didn’t you? You couldn’t just come right out and ask for help.”

Puck shook his head. “No I couldn’t.”

“Why?” Kurt asked, his tone now much softer and more bewildered. “Why not tell someone what was going on?”

Puck shrugged. “She’s my mom.”

Kurt forced back his automatic need to challenge that statement and considered what Puck was trying to say. Puck’s dad had ditched them and left them with only their mother. Elizabeth Hummel hadn’t chosen to leave, but Kurt and Burt had been left to struggle alone nevertheless. How would he react if his dad had hit him? Would he have run to tell someone or would he have clung to the one parent he had left?

“It’s still not right,” Kurt said. “What about Sarah? What happens when you’re gone and she starts taking this stuff out on her?”

Puck shook his head. “Won’t happen. She loves Sarah.”

Kurt blinked. There it was again. Puck was hinting that there was a reason behind all of this. “Why you and not Sarah?”

Puck turned away to look out the window at the crummy skyline. “I…”

Kurt sat on the edge of Puck’s bed and clasped his hand. “Please Puck. Talk to me.”

Puck turned back and stared at the hand holding his. He lifted their joined hands and just chuckled darkly. “This is why.”

Kurt looked at their hands and back up to Puck. “I don’t understand.”

Puck turned his head back towards the window and Kurt was afraid that Puck was going to close up, but he began speaking quietly after a time. “I remember the first time she hit me and then locked me in the closet. I was stuck in there for two days. No food. No water, no light, and no bathroom breaks.” He huffed a humorless laugh. “That place smelled foul by the time she let me out, and then she made me clean it up. It was all because I made the mistake of asking about two boys kissing.”

Kurt held back his gasp of surprise. “How old were you?”

“Eight,” Puck shrugged. “I’d just had my birthday the week before. My dad had been gone for a few months. After that, anytime she thought I even looked too long at another boy she would… So I pretended and I tried to be what she wanted. I really tried.”

“She was wrong, Noah,” Kurt said softly. “You can’t control your sexuality. You are who you were born to be.”

Silent tears trailed down Puck’s cheeks and Kurt gently wiped them away with his free hand. Puck turned to look up into Kurt’s face.

“I hated you at first,” Puck admitted. “You were everything I wanted and everything I wanted to be.”

Kurt gave a halfhearted chuckle at that. “Me?”

Puck squeezed his hand. “You. You were so fucking gorgeous and proud to be exactly who you are, no matter what anyone told you. I wanted to be like you but I knew I never could be. And I wanted…”

Kurt swallowed and licked his suddenly dry lips. “What did you want?”

“This,” Puck murmured as he pulled Kurt forward. 

When their lips met, Kurt closed his eyes and seemed to melt into Puck’s kiss. It was everything he had dreamed his first kiss would be and a hundred times better. It was soft and gentle and yet filled with emotion that went far deeper than the simple schoolyard crushes Kurt had experienced in the past. 

Kurt pulled away after a moment and licked his lips again. “Wow.”

Puck grinned at him. “Yeah.”

PKPKPKPKPK


	4. Incompatible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt and Puck bond over the fact that nobody listens to them (namely Puck's mom and Blaine).

Kurt held back a sigh as he stared up at the ceiling of Blaine’s bedroom. Beside him, Blaine had already fallen asleep and was snoring softly. His arm was thrown across Kurt’s bare chest in a possessive manner that made Kurt feel more like an object than a lover. That probably wasn’t a fair thought, but it was just the way he felt.

When he and Blaine had first gotten together, he had thought that the other boy was the answer to all of his dreams. He thought that they would have the absolute perfect relationship. And in many ways, it was perfect. Blaine was kind and sensitive and parent-approved. He liked many of the same things that Kurt did. He was smart and talented and had a bright future ahead of him.

He was also more than a little bit oblivious to Kurt’s needs and was sure that he was always right. Blaine thought he had all the answers to every problem that Kurt encountered and he could be very condescending when Kurt disagreed with him. He was always very polite when he cut down Kurt’s ideas, but he still cut them down.

Earlier that day was a prime example. They had been walking from glee rehearsal to the parking lot and talking about Kurt’s misgivings about seeking a career on the stage. Rather than listening to Kurt’s concerns and doubts, Blaine had dismissed them as nerves. He had flippantly suggested that once he got his letter for his NYADA audition that Kurt would forget all about his doubts. He had said of course Kurt was talented enough to do anything he wanted. While that sort of praise was flattering, it didn’t address Kurt’s very realistic fears. No matter how Kurt tried to make Blaine understand that these doubts were not based on insecurity, Blaine had not listened. Finally, Kurt had given up and let Blaine change the subject.

The truth was, though, that Kurt had been rethinking his career options since Blaine had been given the part of Tony in the school musical. What he had told his father at the time was true. There just aren’t many parts for men with his particular gifts. His voice was too high. His body type was wrong. His demeanor was too effeminate. He could change some of that—he could work out more and build muscle to look more buff, he could dress differently, he could carry himself differently—but he honestly didn’t want to do that; he genuinely liked himself too much to compromise who he was for a part that may never come his way.

But Blaine, like his father and even Rachel, would not believe that there were obstacles that he might never be able to overcome. He wasn’t getting down on himself. He knew he was talented. But he also knew that the realities of show business meant that even the most talented often never found success. Did he really want to spend four years of his life studying for a career where he had little chance to succeed? 

Blaine’s obliviousness wasn’t limited to Kurt’s future college plans. He had been oblivious to Kurt’s dislike of Sebastian. It took a slushy to the face to get Blaine to stop defending the little rodent-faced bastard. Sometimes Kurt wondered if Blaine didn’t actually encourage the obnoxious boy’s attention. After all, Blaine was used to the adoration of not only all of the Warblers, but most of Dalton. At McKinley, Kurt was the only person who really thought Blaine was special. That wasn’t to say that people didn’t like him, but Blaine was used to being the center of attention all the time.

Blaine was also rather unmindful to the fact that Kurt was pretty ambivalent about sex, as well. Not sex in general, but specifically sex with Blaine. Kurt looked over at his sleeping lover and sighed. He loved Blaine, he really did, but he just wasn’t getting anything from their physical relationship. At first, Kurt had thought that it was just him being a baby penguin, but he knew better now. It had to do with preferences and natural inclinations. 

Despite all assumptions, Kurt was most definitely a top. He couldn’t blame Blaine for assuming that Kurt would be a bottom. Hell, Kurt had even assumed that about himself. But after two months of bottoming for Blaine, he had finally worked up the courage to ask Blaine to let him top. That experience had shown him just how much he had been missing in all of their previous encounters. He didn’t have anything against bottoming, really, and he enjoyed it enough to get off, but it just wasn’t as good for him as topping. 

Unfortunately, Blaine never offered to let Kurt top. Kurt had asked a couple more times, but each time, Blaine made him feel like he was doing him some great favor by agreeing. And then Blaine would just lay there like a bored sacrificial virgin, completely disconnected from the proceedings, while Kurt did everything he could to make it good for both of them. Kurt really hated Blaine's martyr act, so he had stopped asking. That meant, however, that he had spent the last couple months growing more and more disappointed with their sex life. 

Kurt huffed out a frustrated breath before carefully removing Blaine’s arm from his chest. He was tired of staring at Blaine’s ceiling. He wanted to go home and steal some of the beer from the small refrigerator that Burt kept in their garage. He wanted to get drunk and forget the fact that his perfect first relationship wasn’t quite so perfect after all.

“Mmm Kurt?” Blaine said sleepily as he rolled over. He blinked up at Kurt who had already pulled on most of his clothes and was in the process of pulling on his shoes.

“Go back to sleep,” Kurt said quietly.

Blaine frowned, still not fully awake. “Where are you going?”

“Home,” Kurt said. “It’s almost curfew and you’re tired. Go back to sleep.”

Blaine hummed and Kurt could tell that he was almost asleep again. “Tomorrow?”

Kurt bit his lip indecisively for a moment. “I have to work and then there’s a project for French I’ve been putting off. I’ll call if I have time. Okay?”

“M’kay,” Blaine mumbled. He was snoring softly before Kurt could even stand up and gather his messenger bag.

PKPKPKPKPK

Kurt hadn’t been completely honest with Blaine. It wasn’t really close to curfew. In fact, there was more than three hours before his midnight curfew when he pulled into the driveway of his house. He also had exaggerated the work he had to do tomorrow. In truth, he was only working at the garage from ten until noon while his dad went to pick up a part in Findlay, and then his French project would take maybe another hour. Honestly, he just didn’t want to be around Blaine.

The house was dark when Kurt went inside. That wasn’t surprising. Finn had taken Rachel to a show down in Dayton and they were going to be very late getting back. And Burt and Carole were at a party and said they wouldn’t be home until late either. Kurt grabbed a six-pack of beer on his way through the garage and put it into the fridge in the kitchen on his way upstairs. He quickly changed into his pajama pants and an old t-shirt.

Kurt looked at his refection in the mirror on the way back out of his bedroom and frowned. There was something in his eyes and he just couldn’t seem to figure out what was wrong, but there was something there: sadness maybe, or discontent? Whatever it was, Kurt didn’t want to think about it right then. In fact he didn’t want to think about much of anything. 

Back downstairs, Kurt grabbed two of the beers before heading into the living room. He flicked on the TV and found an old movie that he’d probably seen a dozen times. Kurt huffed. There really wasn’t much to choose from on a Friday night.

He was on his third beer when the front door opened and closed. Kurt really wasn’t expecting his family, so he wasn’t surprised to find Puck walk through the doorway a moment later.

“S'up Hummel?” Puck asked as he flopped onto the other end of the sofa. Kurt could tell that the other boy had been drinking too. “Share your beer and I’ll share my booze,” Puck offered, holding out a small flask of bourbon.

“Deal,” Kurt said, even though he was already well on his way to being drunk, and grabbed the flask. “There’s beer in the fridge.”

The pair was silent while the movie played. Puck brought the rest of the six-pack into the living room and they passed the flask back and forth between them. Eventually, however, the movie ended and Kurt sighed and turned off the TV. It wasn’t like it had done much to stop his mind from whirling with all sorts of thoughts.

“Fight with your mom?” Kurt asked as he turned to face Puck. That was the usual reason for Puck showing up unannounced at their house. 

Puck shrugged—which meant yes—and picked at the label on the last beer. “You ever feel like no one listens to you?”

Kurt snorted. “All the time. They pretend to listen, but they really only hear what they want to hear.”

“Yeah,” Puck said quietly. “Blaine?”

“Yeah,” Kurt said with an exaggerated sigh that came more from the booze than anything else.

Puck nodded and took another drink of beer. “He’s pretty self-absorbed.”

Kurt nodded a little drunkenly. “And inconsiderate in bed too.”

Puck chuckled. Kurt could tell he was pretty drunk too. “I wouldn’t have guessed that, dude, but I believe you.”

“What’d you fight with your mom about?” Kurt asked.

Puck’s face seemed to fall at the reminder for his presence in the Hudson-Hummel house. “It wasn’t really a fight; she was just being a bitch. I was looking at some paperwork for financial aid. She got pissy.”

“Financial aid?” Kurt asked. “You mean for college? I didn’t know you had applied anywhere. Finn was telling me about some plan you have for moving your pool cleaning business to California.”

Puck shrugged again. “That was the plan, but Miss P made me take the SATs and then when my scores came back she made me apply to some schools. I think we were both a little shocked when I got accepted. Now I’m just trying to figure out how to pay for it. But Ma’s being a bitch about the whole thing. She wants me to get a job at the plant so I can help pay the rent. I told her months ago about applying to college, but either she wasn’t listening or she thought I would never be accepted.”

“It’s not your responsibility to pay her rent,” Kurt said slowly. 

“Been doing it for a while now,” Puck said with a sigh as he set the empty beer bottle on the table and then slumped back on the sofa. “Not the whole thing, but… I told her she should look for a smaller place so the rent would be lower since I won’t be living there anymore.” He shrugged again. “What’d you and the hobbit fight about?”

“No fight,” Kurt said as he sat back and closed his eyes for a moment. “Just… I’ve been telling him for a while that I feel I need to rethink my Broadway goals.”

“The girly thing?” Puck asked with a frown. “Sucks that people can’t see past that, but… show business is harsh.”

“Exactly!” Kurt said and sat up to look at Puck. “Blaine, my father, Rachel… they all think I’m just being pessimistic or insecure. The truth is I’m trying to be realistic. I know I’ve got talent, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into parts on the stage.”

“So what’s your backup plan?” Puck asked. “I know you have to have one.”

Kurt grinned over at his companion. “I always plan ahead. I was accepted to OSU and NYU for music composition and creative writing and to Marymount for theater with a minor in music and creative writing. I'm waiting to hear from Juilliard. I also applied to Parsons and the Fashion Institute of Technology, but I haven’t heard back from them yet. I can’t really decide which I would rather pursue. I’ve also considered a career in fashion journalism.”

“I can totally see you doing any of those things,” Puck said with a decisive nod. 

“What do you want to study?” Kurt asked.

“Not really sure,” Puck said. “I’m pretty good with numbers and money and I’ve already run my own business, so I thought about business or marketing. But I’ve also thought about something like engineering or architecture.”

“Wow,” Kurt said with surprise. “And you’ve already been accepted into school?”

Puck nodded slowly. “Like I said, I’m still trying to work out the finances though. I can’t really decide where I’m gonna go until I figure out how I’m gonna pay for it. But there’s grants and scholarships that I’ve applied for, most of them from independent foundations. I’m just sort of waiting to find out if I get them or not and how much.”

Kurt nodded. “What schools are you considering?”

Puck grinned this time. “Well, there’s Ohio State, of course. That’s my fallback school because in-state rates are better than my other options. But I’ve also been accepted at UC, Columbia, Pace, Fordham and NYU.”

“Four out of six schools in New York,” Kurt said. “I’m sensing a theme.”

Puck shrugged. “New York is pretty awesome dude. It was great when we went last year, so I thought I’d apply to schools there. Didn’t really think I’d get into any of them, let alone six schools.”

“Guess you’re smarter than you think,” Kurt said easily, the alcohol making him much mellower than he was normally. “You’ll figure it all out. What would be your first choice?”

“Honestly?” Puck asked. “I like all of the schools, but I’m hoping for Columbia. It's an Ivy League school, you know? It’s really expensive though, so I’m pretty much screwed if some of these scholarships don’t come through. Fordham would be my second choice. It’s cheaper, but I like that it’s smaller than the other schools.”

Kurt nodded and went back to staring at his mostly empty beer bottle for a few minutes.

“I hate Blaine,” Kurt said out of nowhere.

Puck blinked at him a few times before saying, “Yeah, Dude, I’m pretty sure you don’t.”

Kurt sighed dramatically and Puck couldn’t tell if it was a result of the booze or just Kurt’s dramatic nature. “Okay, I hate sex with Blaine, is that better? And I hate the way he ignores my opinions and acts all condescending. And I hate those fucking capri pants that he’s so fond of wearing even in the winter.”

“I hate his bowties,” Puck offered.

“Oh, I love the bowties,” Kurt said. “But the hair gel has to go. I think we should petition Figgins to ban hair gel in school…for the safety of the other students.”

“Dude definitely needs to cut back the gel,” Puck agreed.

“I tried to hide it once but he just got another huge jar out of the cupboard where he keeps the towels,” Kurt said. “It was scary.”

They continued to make fun of Blaine for a while longer, until Kurt realized how late it was getting. With a wave of dizziness, he stood up and began to gather the empty bottles to take them out to the recycling bin. When he got back, Puck had finished cleaning up the room and had grabbed the pillow and blanket that he usually used when he stayed over.

“Drink some water and take ibuprofen before you go to sleep,” Puck called out as Kurt went past him towards the stairs. Kurt waved vaguely in his direction but he did take the ibuprofen before falling into his bed a few minutes later.

PKPKPKPKPK

Kurt blew Blaine off the next day. He had no desire to talk to him or see him. In fact, he really just wanted to avoid most people. French only took an hour to complete (it would have been less if he hadn’t been dealing with a hangover) before he spent two hours at the garage, so the rest of Kurt’s day was completely free. That meant he could spend it working on a personal project by himself, away from the rest of the world. At least, that was the plan.

Of course, it didn’t actually happen that way. Kurt went home to pick up lunch and the list he had made the day before only to find Puck sitting in their living room watching ESPN.

“Sup?”

Kurt rolled his eyes at the other boy’s atrocious manners. “I was making lunch. You want a sandwich?”

“Sure?” Puck says a little warily. 

Kurt nodded and headed for the kitchen. He could understand Puck’s unease. Though they spent a good deal of time together since Finn and Carole had moved in last year, they didn’t usually hang out alone together and they certainly didn’t talk like they had last night. Kurt knew enough about Puck’s home life to know that there was a reason he preferred being at the Hudson-Hummel house. He also knew that there was more to the boy than cougars and Cheerios. But most of what he knew came from observation and not from Puck spilling his guts.

After their conversation the night before, however, Kurt found himself wondering about Puck. He knew that he hadn’t been a man-whore for quite some time. Not since Lauren last year, really. In fact, there had been no rumors about Puck’s love life in almost a year. He also knew that he was working a job that didn’t involve pools during the school year, but he didn’t know what that job was. 

Kurt served the sandwiches and took a seat on the other end of the sofa from Puck to eat his own lunch. Puck didn’t even look twice at Kurt, for which the other boy was grateful. Puck was probably the only person from school who ever saw him in anything less than his best. Today, he was wearing an old pair of jeans with a long sleeved blue shirt over a black t-shirt. It was part of his work wardrobe; something that he didn’t mind getting ruined if grease seeped through the coveralls at work.

“So, any plans for this afternoon?”

Puck swallowed the huge bite he was chewing before shaking his head. “Nah. Got something in mind?”

“I was going to work on a personal project and thought you might like to tag along,” Kurt said with an air of false indifference.

“What kind of project?” Puck asked.

“You’ll see if you decide to come along,” Kurt said. “It isn’t something I advertise, so if you don’t want to come, I won’t tell you.”

Kurt knew enough about Puck to know that his curiosity would win out over everything else, so it wasn’t a surprise when Puck said, “Sure. I got nothing better to do.”

Kurt nodded and took another bite of his sandwich. “Just… please keep this to yourself. I mean, Finn and Carole know, but not even Mercedes or Rachel knows about this. Or Blaine.”

“I’ll keep your secret,” Puck assured him and Kurt could see that he was really intrigued now.

They both quickly finished up their lunch and ten minutes later Kurt started up the Navigator with a small trailer hitched to the back. He made a call before they left the driveway. When a man picked up the phone, Kurt confirmed a meeting and got directions before turning the Navigator north on 71.

“You gonna tell me where we’re going now?” Puck asked. “Or why we’ve got a trailer hooked to the back of your ride?"

Kurt smirked at Puck. “I told you, it’s a project.”

“What kind of project?” Puck asked. “‘Cause if you’re thinking about stealing anything, I can’t be part of that. I can’t go back to juvie.”

“I’m not boosting anything,” Kurt assured him. “We’re going to drop some stuff off at a client's shop.”

“Client?” Puck asked, clearly confused.

“I make stuff and people buy it,” Kurt said. “Some I sell online or at fairs directly to my customers. Some I sell through small businesses on consignment. The guy we're meeting today is a new shop owner. He wants to see my full range of products before he agrees to anything.”

"What do you make?" Puck asked.

"I make art pieces from car parts," Kurt explained. "You have to see them to understand. I take the old worn out parts that my dad would normally toss and make them into art. I charge anywhere between $70 and $500 depending on the size of the piece."

“Holy shit, dude, that's like a fortune!” Puck said with awe.

Kurt shrugged. “How else do you think I can afford to pay for my expensive fashion taste? It’s also how I paid for the Nav. But most of the money I make goes towards my college fund.”

“How long have you been doing this?” Puck wonders. 

“Since I was twelve,” Kurt said casually. “At first, Dad, had to supervise everything because he didn't trust me with a welder, but I’ve been working on my own since I was 15. I think I’ve sold about three hundred pieces a year. I make less from the shop sales, but I usually still make a good profit.”

“Dude, that’s like seriously awesome,” Puck said. 

A few minutes later, they pulled off the highway and headed into a quaint small town with a busting downtown filled with artsy shops, small fashion boutiques and antique stores. Kurt pulled into an alley behind a row of stores and parked. They both climbed from the Nav and Puck followed Kurt to a door marked with a sign stating it was the delivery door for Chalmers Gallery.

The man who answered their knock was not much older than them, maybe in his mid twenties. But he certainly seemed to know what he wanted for his shop. They went through every piece that Kurt had brought. 

Puck was mostly a silent observer through the process. But he was very impressed by the stuff Kurt was showing off and by his skills at haggling. It only took an hour to get everything settled and unload the trailer, then they were on their way back to Lima.

"Dude, I don't know much about art and shit, but that was pretty awesome," Puck praised once they were back on the highway. "That guy loved your stuff."

Kurt shrugged. "They all seem to. And it sells well. I personally don't find it all that great. But my best customers tend to be wives buying stuff for their husbands."

"Dude, you make people out of car parts," Puck huffed. "That's awesome."

“What about you?” Kurt asked after a while. “I know you did the pool thing last summer, but…”

Puck smirked. “Well, I didn’t make as much last summer, ‘cause the cougars weren’t down with me telling them no extra services. But after juvie, one of the guys from synagogue offered me a job. He does home repairs and shit. Like a handyman but more than just that. I’ve been working for him after school and on weekends when he has a job and needs extra help. The pay’s good, I guess. And I’ve been getting a few odd jobs on my own for a while now, too. I finished a remodel job on a bathroom not long ago. And that same guy wants me to put up shelves in a walk in closet this week. Feels good to see a job done right.” Puck shrugged. “It’s better than selling my ass, at least.”

There wasn’t much Kurt could say to that, so he didn’t say anything. They took the trailer to the garage and Puck helped get it off the hitch and into one of the empty bays at the back before stepping back to watch Kurt and Burt talk. Burt seemed impressed with Kurt’s deal and Puck had a moment of jealousy over the paternal pride that was evident on Burt’s face. Puck’s dad had never looked at him like that before he bailed. Hell, his ma didn’t look at him like that either.

“Wanna help make people out of car parts?” Kurt asked after Burt went back to work. 

Puck shrugged. “Sure, got nothing better going on.”

The rest of the afternoon went by quickly as the two boys worked together, stopping occasionally so that Kurt could laugh at Puck's failed attempts. And then they spent most of Sunday doing the same.

PKPKPKPKPK

Kurt was reluctant to go to school on Monday morning. He was not looking forward to seeing Blaine. While he and Puck had worked on his art all weekend, Kurt had thought about his relationship with Blaine and what he realized was not positive. Kurt let Blaine dictate their relationship. He let Blaine decide when they should have sex for the first time, only to discover later that it was more about Artie and his questionable directing skills than it was about them. He let Blaine get away with bringing Sebastian into their lives, and look how that turned out. He let Blaine act like he knew more about life and love and relationships, even though Blaine was clearly even more lost than Kurt was.

Kurt was tired of doing everything Blaine’s way. He was tired of letting Blaine call the shots in bed and out. Blaine made him feel inferior somehow, something that even Karofsky at his worst hadn’t been able to do. And Kurt was tired of feeling like less than.

Kurt need not have worried, however, since Blaine didn’t show up for school that day. Kurt texted him once, but the reply was short and simply said that Blaine would call him later. Kurt’s relief was almost ridiculous. He could put off his talk with Blaine for a while longer. Because he knew that he had to talk to Blaine. He had to tell him how he was feeling and probably even end their relationship. Because they just weren’t compatible. Their problems in bed were just one symptom of a huge problem. But Kurt didn’t want to say all of that, so he was grateful for the reprieve.

“Everything okay?” Puck asked as he joined Kurt on the way to glee rehearsal that afternoon.

“I don’t know,” Kurt said with a frown. “Blaine’s out and he just said he’d call me later when I texted him.”

Puck nodded. “I get ya. You gonna tell him you aren’t happy?”

“I was,” Kurt said quietly. “I thought we’d go for coffee after glee, but now…”

“There’s always tomorrow, dude,” Puck said and Kurt had no chance to reply before they reached the class.

PKPKPKPKPK

Blaine did call that evening, but only to tell Kurt that he couldn’t really talk just then. He said he would see him after school tomorrow and he would explain everything then. Kurt took that in his stride and went to work on his homework instead. He had spent a couple hours after school working on the Challenger, so that was his first opportunity to do his English essay. 

The next day, Blaine was once again absent, but Kurt had known he would be. He felt a little guilty about how relieved he was not to have to worry about meeting Blaine or dealing with Blaine’s issues. Instead, he ate lunch with Puck and joked around with him between classes. It was a nice break from feeling like he was always trying to live up to some unattainable image that Blaine had for the two of them.

“Where is Blaine?” Rachel demanded as soon as Puck and Kurt entered the choir room. “We cannot afford for him to miss so many rehearsals with Regionals only three weeks away! We all need to be at our best if we are going to beat the Warblers and that awful Sebastian boy!”

“Chillax, Berry,” Puck said before leading the way over to the chairs. 

“I don’t know where Blaine is,” Kurt admitted reluctantly as he took a seat beside Puck. “I’m sure he has a very good reason for his absence.”

Rachel wandered off then, still muttering about regionals and responsibility. But Schue entered the room then and soon Rachel was distracted by the man’s superfluous assignment that took more time away from their competition preparations than anyone would have liked.

After glee, Kurt took his time gathering his belongings and found himself alone in the room with Puck. “You mind giving me a ride? Got a job over on Jacobs Street.”

“Sure,” Kurt said with an easy shrug. 

They went to Kurt’s Navigator and soon were on their way across town. Puck looked carefully at Kurt while they drove. “This has been killing me since Friday night. Why’s the Hobbit so bad in bed?”

Kurt chuckled a little darkly. “It’s not really that he’s bad in bed. It’s more that he doesn’t take my feelings into account. Let’s just say that we both prefer to be in control but we both can’t be. I’d be willing to switch up, but he’s not.”

Puck nodded as though he understood exactly what Kurt was saying. “I bet most people think you’re like a total bottom, right? See, they just don’t get it. It’s not about gender or body type or mannerisms. It’s all about attitude and shit. I can totally tell you’re a top. I’m more surprised that the Hobbit is a top, actually. He’s pushy, but not… tough. At least not like you are.” 

“You think I’m tough?” Kurt asked with a small smile.

“Dude, you are totally badass,” Puck said adamantly. “Like Santana and Lauren and Quinn all wrapped up in one package. HBIC. If you’d stayed on Cheerios, I could totally see you ruling this school.”

Kurt laughed at that, but once he dropped Puck off, he considered what Puck had said. Not about Cheerios, but about Santana and Quinn and Lauren. All of Puck’s exes really were dominant women. And Puck had a way of naturally deferring to them. Get him in a room full of jocks and he’d posture with the worst of them, but put him with a strong woman and he was like a puppy—a puppy that needed to be housebroken, but a puppy nonetheless.

It was a very interesting thought.

PKPKPKPKPK

When Kurt pulled into his driveway, he wasn’t surprised to see Blaine waiting for him. They had agreed to meet at 4 and Kurt was a few minutes late after dropping Puck off. What he wasn’t expecting to see was the familiar blue blazer with red trim that Blaine was wearing.

“What the hell, Blaine?” Kurt demanded as soon as he reached the porch.

“I know,” Blaine said with a sheepish smile. “I should have told you, but I really didn’t want you to talk me out of it. My parents have been pushing since the slushy incident. Besides, they need me, Kurt. Look what happened while I’ve been gone. Sebastian came in and took over and almost ruined everything. They need me a lot more than the New Directions do.”

Kurt glared at Blaine before turning his back to open the front door. He wasn’t going to have this argument on the front porch for their neighbors to witness. Blaine followed him inside silently.

“Your parents have been pushing you to go back to the school where the person who hurt you attends?” Kurt finally said once they were both in the living room. He didn’t bother to sit. He was too upset. “I can’t really see that happening. And this isn’t about what the Warblers need or what New Directions needs; this is about you and your need to be the center of attention.”

“That’s not it at all!” Blaine denied angrily. “I’m trying to do the right thing! Those are my friends!”

“I thought we were your friends too,” Kurt said mildly.

“Finn hates me,” Blaine complained. “And Mr. Schuester never gives me a solo for competition. Every time I try to make a suggestion, it gets shot down.”

“Not every time,” Kurt countered. “But there are other people on this team and we all have a say in what happens. And you’ve had more solos this year than I have. In fact, you’ve had more solos than anyone, including Finn and Rachel. You did ‘Control’ and ‘Man in the Mirror’ at sectionals.”

“With the other guys,” Blaine countered. “And with Artie and Quinn. I didn’t have an actual solo!”

“So it wasn’t Blaine and the Pips,” Kurt said dryly. “Gee, I can see how that would be disappointing.”

Blaine had the decency to look embarrassed. “I just think they need my talent more than you guys do. And my leadership. Without David and Wes there, Sebastian was a very bad influence on the team.”

“An influence that you bought into,” Kurt reminded him. “One that you gave our set list to. One that you still text even after he nearly blinded you!”

Blaine scowled. “He’s not all bad. He just needs…”

“The perfect example of Dapper Blaine Warbler to set him straight?” Kurt said mockingly. “Of course, that’s exactly what he needs to be a proper gentleman and an overall good guy.”

“There’s no call for sarcasm,” Blaine scolds. “I knew you would be like this. Besides, you’ve been friendly with Karofsky, too.”

Kurt huffed a short dry laugh. “If I thought you were going back because you were afraid, I’d say go for it. If I thought it was because you felt out of place, like I did at Dalton, I’d say go for it. But that’s not why you’re going. You’re going back because you want to be the center of attention. Grow the fuck up, Blaine!”

“Fine you think I want attention? Maybe I do!” Blaine retorted. “It’s not like you give me any attention!”

“No attention?” Kurt asked in disbelief. “I’ve spent less time with my friends since we started dating than I did when I was at Dalton. I let you tell me what to do and how to act because you think you know best. I let you tell me to tone it down and be less myself. I let you fuck me even though I would prefer to do a little fucking myself! How much more do you want from me?”

“Is that what this is about?” Blaine asked. “You want to be the aggressor sometimes? All you have to do is ask!”

“I have!” Kurt shouted. “And every fucking time you act like a fucking martyr!” Kurt paused to take a deep breath before continuing more calmly. “But this isn’t about that. Not really. You dismiss my opinions. You tell me my concerns are nonsense. You plan out my life and my schedule and my career like I’m your personal project and not your partner. If you wanted a pet, you should have gotten a dog.”

Blaine was silent for a long time and Kurt wondered if perhaps he might have actually gotten through to him.

“I thought you might come back with me,” Blaine said, finally. “I asked my dad and he said that they’d pay for your tuition. Everything could go back to the way it was before.”

Kurt shook his head sadly. Blaine just didn’t get it. “I don’t want or need you to pay my tuition. I hated it there. I don’t want things the way they were before. I don’t want things the way they are now, either.”

“What does that mean?” Blaine asked with a kicked-puppy face.

“It means that I’m breaking up with you,” Kurt said tiredly as he finally sat down on the sofa. “I’m done standing in your shadow while you hog the spotlight. I’m just done.”

“But Kurt…” Blaine said, his voice filled with confusion. “Even if you don’t come back, we don’t have to break up.”

“Breaking up has nothing to do with what school you go to,” Kurt said and looked Blaine right in the eye. “Even if you stayed, I’d be breaking up with you. I mean it when I say I’m done letting you walk all over me.”

“But…but I love you,” Blaine said plaintively.

“No you don’t,” Kurt said wearily. “I’m sure you think you do, but you don’t…treat someone you love the way you’ve been treating me. I’m done Blaine. Go back to Dalton and bask in their adoration. You’re right: you won’t get that here. I guess you need that more than you need real friends or a boyfriend, so go get it.”

“Kurt, you can’t mean that,” Blaine tried again.

“I do mean it,” Kurt said. “You should go. Now. I’m sure that the Warblers want to celebrate the returning hero.”

Blaine hesitated. “Trent did mention a party.”

Kurt laughed humorlessly. “Of course he did.”

Blaine stood there staring at Kurt for a long minute. “Maybe you should think about this.”

“I have thought about it,” Kurt countered, now getting pissed off again. “I thought about it for a long time. Now, will you just get the fuck out?!”

“Dude asked you to leave,” Puck said from the doorway, surprising both boys.

Blaine looked back and forth between Puck and Kurt before slowly nodding. “Fine, I’ll go. I’ll call you in a few days, after you’ve had a chance to reconsider things.”

“He’s not going to change his mind,” Puck said confidently. “Go on back to your prep school, now, Hobbit. Those of us who live in the real world have things to do.”

Blaine glared ineffectually at Puck for another moment, but eventually, he did turn and leave. Once the front door closed behind him, Puck took a seat beside Kurt on the sofa. “Guess that’s the end of that.”

“Except for regionals,” Kurt said ruefully. “Rachel’s gonna have a fit.”

Puck shrugged. “Let her. Do you feel better?”

Kurt chuckles. “Like there’s a weight that’s been lifted from my chest, actually. I can breathe again.”

“Shoulda told him off a long time ago,” Puck said with a smirk. 

Kurt looked at Puck and frowned. “What happened with your job?”

Puck scowled at the reminder of that disaster. “Dude just wanted in my pants. His doorbell wasn’t even broken. I threatened to call the cops on him and then made him give me a ride here. Why do people think I’m just an easy lay to be bought?”

A year ago, Kurt might have said that Puck was the one offering himself for sale, but not now. “I don’t know. But you have to know that they’re the ones with something wrong with them. They’re the sleaze-balls.”

Puck groaned and sat down on the sofa. “I never wanted any of that, you know?”

Kurt sat beside him and put a comforting hand on his back. “What do you mean?”

Puck shrugged. “It just happened.” He was quiet for a long minute before he continued. “My first kiss was when I was ten. I was at Hebrew camp that summer and one of the boys in my cabin kissed me. I thought it was the best thing in the world. But then I got home and… Finn said that dudes don’t go around kissing other dudes. And I believed him.”

Puck stood up to pace the length of the living room. “I bought into the crap that the other guys told me. When I was thirteen, I started cleaning pools. It was after my bar mitzvah and one of the women at the synagogue offered me a few bucks to clean her pool; my first real job. She was nice and gave me cookies when I was done, plus I got paid, so I thought it was great. She gave my name to a couple other women in her neighborhood with pools and I had a whole client list in a couple weeks.

“But there was one woman,” Puck said a little quietly. He sat back down and leaned his elbows on his knees. His eyes were trained on his feet as he continued his story. “She was a little too nice, if you know what I mean. And she… Anyway, she paid me twice what I normally got and I didn’t know what to do, so I just took the money and ran. I left her house and went to Finn’s house. There were a few guys there hanging out and playing video games. I told them what happened and they… they all acted like I was the luckiest guy on the planet. I didn’t feel very lucky. I felt gross and… dirty. But they said…”

Kurt pulled Puck into his arms and held him as he was too overcome with emotion to go on. For long minutes, the only sound was the quietly hitched breath that Puck let out against Kurt’s shoulder and Kurt’s murmured reassurances. Eventually, he pulled back and swiped angrily at his tears.

“I bought into the whole thing,” Puck said. “After she… there were more of them who wanted the same services and I just went along with it. I didn’t know… I didn’t know how it would make me feel. But it made me pretty much hate myself. So I found girls my age to fuck to try and make me feel better, but it didn’t work. People think I used them, but mostly we just used each other and that didn’t make me like myself any more than those cougars did.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Kurt said quietly, but Puck didn’t seem to hear him.

“After juvie, they made me go to counseling for a few months,” Puck said faintly. “Not Miss P, but a real shrink. She said that… she said that I was…” Puck shook his head as though he still couldn’t say the word. “Anyway, she strongly suggested that I cut out the MILFs and chicks and maybe concentrate on figuring out what I really want. It was cool that Lauren didn’t want to do it last year, because that fit in with what the doc was telling me, not that she knew that. And I had to keep up appearances, so I kept pushing, but I’m pretty sure that if she had said yes, I would have bolted.”

“Are you still seeing the psychiatrist?” Kurt asked carefully.

 

Puck shook his head and shrugged. “Nah, the state only paid while I was on probation and Ma can’t afford that shit. I’m mostly better now. I’m not sure why that guy tonight turned me into such a pussy.”

“You aren’t a pussy; you’re a survivor,” Kurt told him firmly. “You’re strong enough to face what you’ve been through instead of hiding from it. And you’ve come out of that a better person. Two years ago, you and I never would have been friends, but now… you’re one of the best friends I have. You’re kind and care for your friends. You are smart and talented and you’re going to get the hell out of this hick town, unlike those losers who tried to turn you into something less.”

Puck, for some reason, felt a lot better after that.

PKPKPKPKPK

“Where is Blaine?” Rachel demanded of Kurt as soon as he walked into the choir room the next day and Kurt sighed. He knew that this was coming but he still wasn’t totally prepared for it. He knew that there would be pitying looks from some of them and anger from others. It wasn’t like his breakup with Blaine had anything to do with his defection back to Dalton, but…

“Blaine went back to Dalton,” Kurt finally blurted out and there was silence from the rest of the group. And then the silence ended and everyone was shouting questions at him at once.

“Back off,” Puck shouted louder than all of them and soon they were quiet again. “The Hobbit made his choice and it’s not Kurt’s fault that he was a douche.”

“But what about you guys?” Mercedes asked. “You’re still going out, right?”

“I broke up with him,” Kurt said quietly. “It had nothing to do with him leaving in any way. He didn’t leave because I broke up with him and I didn’t break up with him because he left. It just wasn’t working. And now we should probably rehearse. We’ll have to make changes now that Blaine is gone.”

“Changes!” Rachel almost screeches. “We have to change our entire set list! He’ll tell them everything!”

A part of Kurt wanted to defend Blaine, but the truth was, while Blaine might not do it intentionally or maliciously, he probably would tell them everything. He’d given Sebastian their Michael Jackson idea, after all.

“It’ll be okay,” Mr. Schue said, though Kurt could tell he was a little upset himself. “We have plenty of singers with the Trouble Tones and we can certainly come up with a great set list in the next three weeks. We’ll be fine.”

For the next hour, they brainstormed song ideas and eventually came up with a set list that Kurt actually thought was better than the one they had to set aside. After glee ended, Kurt was hounded by Rachel and Mercedes, but eventually, he was left alone to gather his messenger bag. When he looked back up, only he and Puck were left in the room.

“You okay?”

Kurt shrugged as he pulled the strap of his bag over his shoulder. “They weren’t as bad as I thought they might be. I think some of the club still blames me for Blaine leaving, but they’ll get over it.”

“Yeah, I noticed Quinn was giving you dirty looks,” Puck said. “And I think Sam and Mercedes weren’t as trusting as they made out.”

“Mercedes hasn’t really trusted me since I told her I don’t believe in god,” Kurt said with a sigh. The two of them left he class and headed towards the parking lot. “And I haven’t really trusted her since she dragged me to church despite my expressed beliefs. Then there was Dalton and Blaine and Sam and the Trouble Tones… and we just really haven’t been very good friends lately, so I’m not surprised she didn’t believe me. When she and Rachel cornered me, she asked why I would break up with Blaine. She thinks I’m crazy to give up a relationship with him.”

“She obviously hasn’t been paying attention to you, then,” Puck said. “Santana and Brittany both said that it was about time and wanted me to pass on their support.”

Kurt smiled at that. “Tell them thanks. Or I will. We haven’t had a girls’ night in a while. Maybe I’ll invite the two of them over. Maybe Tina, too.”

“Sounds fun,” Puck said a little ironically. Kurt shot him a look, but said nothing. “Listen, you want to hang out this weekend? I have to finish that closet Saturday morning, but should be free the rest of the weekend.”

“Okay,” Kurt agreed. “I’m working on my project on Saturday morning. You could meet me at the garage and we could go from there.”

“Sounds good,” Puck agreed. 

PKPKPKPKPK

The rest of the week seemed to drag despite the fact that Kurt was insanely busy. The truth was, he was really looking forward to hanging out with Puck again. As illogical as it seemed, the two boys had a lot in common and Kurt found it easy to talk to Puck.

Saturday morning Kurt went to the garage to work for a few hours but by lunch time was more than ready to go do something fun. He and Puck hadn't made any firm plans about what they would do, but Kurt didn't really care either. 

Kurt had just finished washing up when he saw Puck pull up. He quickly said bye to his father and then headed out to meet Puck. "So what's on the agenda for today?"

"Something fun," Puck said with a smirk. 

Kurt frowned warily. "Fun for me or for you? Because paintball is definitely not fun for me. That paint is impossible to get out of my clothes."

"No paintball. I promise," Puck said with a chuckle. "I was actually thinking we could head up to Findlay to check out that new IMAX theater. They're playing that new movie you were talking about last week."

Kurt beamed. "That actually sounds really great."


End file.
